Bachelor King 10: C is for Chaos
by creativeKing95
Summary: Larry discovers a cure for cancer, but it becomes a great challenge to keep it a secret from other countries and the medical community. But after an incident, it will become essential to reveal it while trying to stay far from those who aren't happy with the discovery. (For all our dear friends and family with this terrible disease.)
1. Chapter 1

I love summer vacation. Who doesn't? I guess people who work at beaches, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and touristic places. They have a whole lot more work one their hands. But I can assure you that all kids from ages 5 to 18 love summer vacation.

And so ended another school year. We had all kinds of plans and lists of things to do. There's so much you can do in Amarkia in three months. I mean a lot. But I definitely didn't expect to start things with such a bang.

It was June 8th. It was about a week after the incident with Robert in the previous story. That morning, I woke up late and when I did I went in the bathroom to take a shower. Unlike other people I know, I like to be clean, thank you.

Anyways, I was in the middle of taking of a shower when guess what happened? Some idiot burst in the door. Naturally, the idiot was Larry. He didn't even seem to notice that I was in there. I mean, a guy needs privacy when he's cleansing his body.

Not only was he being disrespectful, he had gone in to…well, use the bathroom. I mean there I am, showering and he comes in sits on the toilet. I peeked through the shower curtain. "Hey! Do you mind?"

 _Pfft!_ "Oh, excuse me, Spiny. I didn't hear you."

"Couldn't you go use some other bathroom? In case you haven't noticed…this one is being used!"

"It's okay, I don't mind. You can go ahead with your shower."

Ugh! I didn't have another choice. I turned the water to its hottest point and pointed the shower at him.

Oh, ho ho ho! You should've heard him scream! It was hilarious! It made him jump like a cat in hot water.

Larry has no good sense of humor. And he sure shows anger in the worst ways. You know what the jerk did to me? I played a perfectly innocent joke on him and you know what he did?

He threw a firecracker in the tub.

And I'm sad to say that I didn't have time to put it out with the water or to get out in time. So, I was more or less in the middle of it all when it when _KA-BOOM!_ I wasn't hurt or anything, but it sure did shake the place up. The glass broke, the curtain fell down, and parts of the wall and plaster fell off.

Well, I'd have to find a later time to get even with him. I didn't have time to be childish. I had a whole agenda of things to do. Summer vacation was starting and I intended to start off with a good day. And a good day included being far away from certain people.

Anyways, after I got out of the shower, I got all dressed up and stepped out on my room's balcony. I had a table and several chairs with some decorations. I would often step out here, especially on nice days or in the evenings or sometimes late at night when I couldn't sleep.

And if it's raining, I can cover it with a sun-proof and waterproof shade. I read or play the guitar and sing or listen to music. Or sometimes Lilia and I would go out there alone and just talk and…moving on.

Anyways, it was a nice day out and I decided to go out, feeling fresh and clean.

I took a deep breath, taking in the late spring air, and letting the morning breeze run through my hair. It was serene. It was peaceful. I had a great view from up here.

I could see all the way to the other side of the city. Sometimes I would wonder what people in my viewing area would do. You have this feeling of…I don't know. I can see people from far away but they can't see me and I wonder who they are or what they're doing or they're lives are like.

It makes me feel like I'm doing a fine job as King and leader in the country.

A little closer within my viewing area, I saw the Wood's home right across the street from us. I could see Lilia walking out and saw her lying down on the hammock in her front yard. She was reading a book.

I smiled to think of her. In the month and a half that we'd been together, we'd saved up enough memories to last several thousand years. Or maybe a lot more.

My peaceful thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a whistling sound, a hissing, then an explosion. I looked around in all directions. Huh. Where did that come from? Hmm. Maybe I'd imagine it. That can happen sometimes, you know.

I ignored it.

Anyways, where was I?

Oh, yeah.

Anyways, at that moment I began to think of the last date that we'd had. We'd gone stargazing. She had bought a new telescope and had wanted to show me. So about two days ago, she came over and had dinner with us.

We waited until it was late then went up to My Special Place. Where we'd had our first kiss. We set the telescope there and pointed it up to the starry heavens. The air was so clear that we could see not only stars but also comets, shooting stars, planets, the Milky Way, and even one supernova from far away.

They can last about a month you know, and during that time, they look like a whole bunch of stars all shining as one. And the moon was also very beautiful. We looked through her telescope for about three hours.

We saw just about every planet in our solar system and several others. And we saw some nebulae and a whole bunch of cool stuff. After a while, we got tired and we lied down on the grass under the tree side by side and held hands. We talked and talked and talked. If I wanted to say everything that we did, it would probably take up four chapters.

But our conversation was really memorable. Well, I'll try to make it a little bit shorter and summarize it while still leaving in the best parts.

When we finished looking, it was almost eleven o'clock. We had just lied down the grass, looking up the dark, starry skies through the branches of Our Tree. I grabbed her hand in mine and interlocked fingers.

"Sure is nice out here tonight," I said.

I heard her sigh. "It sure is."

"It's so peaceful and serene."

She turned to look at me. "And romantic."

I looked at her. Even in the darkness, I could tell she was grinning. "Romantic? What's romantic about it?" I said teasingly.

"Oh, I don't know. We lying under the stars, it's late, we're alone, like a million miles away from everyone, holding hands, and no more than a foot away from each other."

I raised my eyebrow. "All that trouble to be romantic? Phew, just thinking about all the effort makes me want to reconsider and dedicate my life to be hermit."

She laughed. "Well, some people think it's worth the effort."

"Well, I guess it's a greater effort on some people than to others."

She held my hand up to her face and put it to her cheek. "To you it's a natural-born talent."

"What is?"

"Being romantic. You can't help it. It's just part of you. That's what I like about you."

"What you like about me? I always thought it was my blue eyes."

She giggled. "That's when I had a crush on you."

"When? You mean you don't have a crush on me anymore?"

"No. Now I'm in love with you."

I laughed. "Well, there's some good news."

She hit me playfully in the ribs. "You hush up, buster or you'll make me mad." I laughed more.

She looked back up the stars. "But what I like is that you don't have to pretend to be someone else so you can be nice and sweet to me. A lot of boys think that's sissy stuff so they have to practice and pretend to be something they're not with girls. And it doesn't come out natural."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but with you it's different. You're just yourself around me. You're so honest and sincere…but I like it. You're always sincere and open. I like the way you treat me, because you make me feel important. Like a queen." She looked at me. "And that's just one of the thousand or so reasons why I love you, my dear."

I smiled at her. The moonlight pouring through the branches made her face shine with pure beauty. I couldn't help but admire her beauty and sincerity. "I love you too, you know?"

"Tell me why."

"What?"

"Tell me why you love me."

"Don't you believe that I do?"

"Oh, I do. Very, very much. But I want to hear you say the reasons why. Just like I told you."

I laughed. "All right. Let me think." I looked up. "Hmm. Was that a trick question? Hey, stop it!"

She started tickling me, that's why I said that. "I told you not to get me mad." We both laughed.

"All right, all right." She lay back down beside me. I put my arm around her and she put her head on my shoulder. "Well, you're a great person. You're smart and like to learn. You're very nice to all my friends. You're loyal and I can trust you. You respect me and my family. You're part of a great family. You treat them right. You're not selfish. You're always helping others in need and you're a good friend. And you don't judge by appearances and don't worry too much about foolish things like clothes or money. And you're a good student. You're hardworking and punctual and dedicated." Then I looked at her again. "But you know what the main reason is?"

"What is?"

"The main reason that I love you is because…you love me too." We both smiled at each other, staring for a good long while. She blinked her eyes. It seemed as though as if she was crying. "I do. I really do."

We both leaned our faces closer and kissed each other tenderly. Lovingly. Deeply. Caringly. Affectionately. We stayed there for a while longer, without saying anything. We didn't really have to.

Our mutual silence expressed what we felt in a better way than a thousand words would have.

Since it was so late, Lilia decided to sleepover with Kathy and Patty. We talked more on the way back to the Palace. We had hot chocolate and drank it in the living room, while we watched a movie, our arms round each other.

And when it was time to say goodnight, I helped her with her bag and carried it upstairs to the girl's room. Even after we said goodnight, as I lay in my bed, hearing Larry make all his ridiculous sleep noises, I was lost in deep thoughts.

So you can understand that, now, standing on the balcony in mid-morning air, feeling fresh and full of life, I was so surprised when I heard another _WHISTLE! HISS! BOOM!_

Now, I was pretty sure that I hadn't imagined that.


	2. Chapter 2

Believe me, I can identify an explosion when I hear one. And this one was no product of my imagination.

I looked down and…well, what did we have here?

My two brothers, Robert of the long dark blonde hair and green eyes, and Greeny of the brown hair and blue-green eyes were playing with fireworks, firecrackers, and who knows what other types of stuff they had.

"Hey!" I yelled down to them.

They didn't hear me, because they fired another one. But it wasn't a firework. I don't know what they're called but it's one of those that light up, go up into the air, and come back down, then explode.

Well, too bad for me, my balcony suddenly became a target practice for explosives. One of them broke my windows. "Hey! What are you two doing?!"

I could hear Robert say, "Uh-oh." He looked up at me and smiled. "Oh. Hi, Spiny. What's new?"

"Don't tell me what's new! What do you think you're doing?"

"Um…" he looked down then at Greeny. "I think we're playing with fireworks and other stuff like it."

"Stop doing that! It's too close to the Palace! You could hurt somebody!" My last sentence was drowned out by another whistle, hiss, and boom. All right, that did it. I went back in, ran down the stairs, and went out the front door. The two of them were still there.

I crossed my arms and glared at them. "Now, I don't care who started it. And I don't care if one of you convinced the other to do it. What I do care about, is that you fired one after I told you not, too."

"Um…um…um…" was all Robert could say. He obviously wasn't making a good defense for himself.

"All righty then! You'll both have to be punished. You're going to work out of your allowances to pay the broken windows, and the decorations you destroyed up in my balcony."

"What do you mean work?" said Robert.

"I mean work. And you'll have to do it between the two of you. You can do it. It's summer now. You can mow lawns, walk dogs, sell lemonade…"

"Spiny, no!"

"I'm sorry, but you brought this upon yourself. You do something, you learn. You break it, you pay it. You'd best get inside and cleaned up and go find yourselves a job."

"But, Spiny!"

"Or else I'll…!"

"We're going! We're going!" said Greeny. They both ran inside as if fire had started to rain from heaven.

Hey, you have to be hard in order to make others learn. It's a hard world out there, and if you don't know how to handle things for yourself or toughen it up, then you're in big trouble.

Anyways, I walked over to where Lilia was. She was still on her hammock. She'd fallen asleep and the book lay open on her chest. She'd been reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She and I would get together to watch one or two episodes together.

Then we'd discuss it, do research on it, since it's all based on true stories that really did happen.

And then we would compare our results and talk about it. It wasn't really for school. It's more like a personal project between the two of us. That last time, we'd watched the episode where Albert comes out for the first time. Lilia claims that the actor that portrays him reminds her of Greeny. Except that he's got brown hair and blue-green eyes.

Anyways, I walked up to Lilia. She looked so beautiful and innocent. I nudged her gently. She moaned and opened her eyes, looking at me.

She smiled at me warmly. "Hey, you."

"Hey yourself."

She sat up straight and I sat next to her. "What you doing?"

"Oh, just relaxing a while. I was reading and feel asleep."

"You slept through all the noise?"

"What noise?"

"Robert and Greeny were playing with fireworks in our front yard."

She looked across the street to the Palace. "Is that what the noise was?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh, I thought that was you and Larry having another argument."

"Ha! If Larry and I had been fighting each other with explosives, he would've made me go up into a thousand pieces."

"Yeah, you're right."

I put my arm around her. "So, what you got planned for the summer?"

She shrugged and put her head on my shoulder. "I don't know. We'll see what comes up. And you?"

"Don't know. There's a lot of places the family wants to see. London, Paris, Scotland, Rome, Venice, Florence, New York, Miami Beach, the Everglades, Hollywood, Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, Ohio, Albuquerque, etc., etc."

She laughed. "Quite an agenda, right?"

"I don't there's even an agenda. I don't know where to start. But, I have a feeling that this summer will stay in our memories for the rest of our lives. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling that this summer is particularly special." And I would be right, as you'll find out in later stories. But it won't all be rose-colored. There's going to be plenty of sad and tragic parts.

Anyways, I said to her, "You plan to travel anywhere?"

"Not particularly. I guess all those places you mentioned are all appealing to me. But I'd also like to visit Switzerland, Finland, or even the South Pole."

That surprised me. I hadn't heard her mention that ever before. "The South Pole?!"

She giggled. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing at all. Other than the freezing subzero temperatures, howling winds, treacherous seas, dangerous crevasses, blinding blizzards, snow-blindness, hallucinations, and wildlife. Other than, what could possibly be wrong?"

She smiled teasingly. "Spiny Kyverná, I do believe you are being sarcastic with me?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Do you believe, do you think, or are you sure?"

"How about the fourth answer: all of the above?"

"You should've picked C."

"Oh? And is there any punishment for choosing wrong?"

I smiled at her. "You bet there is!"

I started tickling her. "No, Spiny! Stop that! Stop! I'm ticklish!" We both fell to the ground and started rolling around in the grass. And would you believe that she started tickling me, too? I mean that girl was a lot stronger than I imagined. She pinned me about three times!

Finally, we both ran out of breath and sat up under the shade of the trees in her front yard. "Well…" I was still out of breath. "Know I now…why no one bothers you…you have…no sense…of humanity…when it comes…to tickling!"

She tried to laugh, but couldn't for obvious reasons. You need oxygen to laugh. "You…take…that…back."

"I won't. Unless you can pay the penalty."

"Oh, yeah?" she smirked. "And just how can I do that?"

I scooched closer to her and leaned my face to hers. I pressed my lips to hers, and she put her hands around my neck.

She pulled away and she let me stare into her deep brown eyes. I could see my reflection in them. "You have nice eyes," I whispered to her.

"Yours are stunning and captivating," she said.

It would've been a perfect moment. It was. The fresh morning air. The spring breeze running through our hair. Our faces only inches apart. Sitting on the grass of her front yard. My hand on hers. Birds singing, flowers dancing on the fields, and butterflies flying.

It was heaven.

And it would've been perfect except that, uh…


	3. Chapter 3

"Ahem? Am I interrupting anything?" said a voice.

We both turned to look and see who the idiot who had interrupted. Well, the word "idiot" is a dead giveaway of who it was. None other than Larry himself. I stood up and wiped the grass and dirt off my jeans. Then I grabbed Lilia's hands and helped her stand up.

"What are you doing?" Larry said.

I crossed my arms and stared at the dunce in front of us. "We were making origami."

"Really? Where's the paper? Because what I saw was passionate making-out."

"LARRY!"

"Well, that's what I saw. It's not my fault that you're so mushy like everyone else who's unfortunate enough to be paired off."

That really got Lilia mad. "What did you say?"

"Um…um…I meant, like everyone else who's stupid enough to be…"

"What was that?" she said.

"Um…um…there's a word for it, but I can't quite place it."

Lilia walked up to Larry, meeting him with a glare. "The word is 'smart.'"

"Um, okay? Like everyone else who's smart enough to be paired off. There, did I say it right?"

"Well, I'd say you passed the test of Not Getting Killed by Best Friend's Girlfriend," I said.

"I didn't even know you could pass."

"All right, Larry, what's the punch line?"

"Punch line? I didn't come to tell jokes. I'm here on important and serious business."

"Okay, then. Tell me."

He fidgeted. "Um, it's also highly classified information which can be only viewed by certain people."

Oh. I looked at Lilia. "Well, uh, I gotta go. You know, duty calls."

She nodded. "Sure I get it." She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. "I'll see you later?"

"Sure." I kissed he back. "Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye." She turned around and went into her house.

"Well," I said to Larry. "What's this highly classified matter that no one can know about?"

"Shh!" He looked around us. Then he whispered to me," Not here. Someone could be watching. Let's go down to the lab."

Oh. When Larry tells you that he wants to say something to you in the lab, it's because it is important. And really secret. Confidential.

I followed him back to the Palace. We slipped through the secret entrance and down to the Secret Lab. There were a few government guys and scientists working. They were all running around like crazy like they'd discovered something fascinating.

"What's with everyone?" I said.

"Well, that's I wanted to talk to you about," Larry said.

"What is it?"

I followed him to the office room, which was only accessible by an electronic lock a thick, steel door. Inside, there were normal items found in any office.

"Sit down," he said to me.

Okay, now I was getting scared. When someone tells you so sit down, it's usually going to be shocking news and you'll be likely to faint. And shocking news is usually bad news. The only good news I could imagine that he had is that all of our enemies had been defeated. But I knew that was highly unlikely.

"We've made an astounding discovery. It's the discovery to end all discoveries. It's the discovery of the entire millennium. Of the whole history of the world. It will alter history and change the world in dozens of ways."

"Well, what is it?" I said, now getting anxious.

He looked around again to see if anybody was watching. Then he leaned closer, "We've found a cure for cancer."

I cannot possibly describe in words, in speaking, or even in poetry how I felt in that moment. Just try to imagine what would happen if a doctor or scientist told you that there was a cure for cancer. Or if you saw it on the news.

How would you feel? I know it's hard to imagine such a feeling, but just try to imagine it, and you'll understand why it's so hard to tell you how I reacted at that moment. It's just impossible. It's literally impossible for me to say here and now how I felt at that moment.

All I could say was, "WOW!"

He smiled. "That's right. We've done it. We've finally done it. We made the impossible."

"What…what exactly is it?"

"Well, it, uh, it doesn't really consist of just one plant or just one chemical. It's made up of several chemicals and plants and some artificial additives."

He stood up and started pacing. "Those are actually meant to destroy the tumors. Now, with things like leukemia where there's no specific tumor, we had to do some GMO. You know, Genetic Modified Organism."

That kind of hit me. I've always been against GMO. Larry could tell that. So he said, "Not on humans, more like on the genetic make-up of the plants. You see, we're trying to see if we can do without GMO."

"But it's pretty much impossible, right?" I said.

"It's pretty much impossible, and why wait five more years and thirty-eight million deaths? I mean, cancer causes too much suffering and it's not worth waiting."

I nodded. "True, very true."

"Besides we have a little of the stuff. Do you know how much we have right now?"

I started thinking on that. "Hmm. Two milligrams?"

"One gallon."

"One gallon?! That's it? Why so little?"

"Well, it's not that the plant is rare. And it's not that the plant grows only in Amarkia."

"Well then, why? Why so little?"

He was about to say something, but he looked at me sternly. "Hey! When scientists first made the atomic bomb, they didn't have a huge arsenal the next day. Even though we'd invented it 13,000 years before they did. But you see my point?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"At the moment, we're just purchasing the seeds. As you know, plants take time to grown."

"Oh, yeah. I know that."

"Yeah, and with the amount of seeds we have we could have for about 10 million people. So if the entire population of Amarkia were to have cancer, half of them could be cured."

"Really? Wow."

"But, like I said, we're still in the making process. We don't have nearly enough. But with time and effort, we could. And this is the one that stops tumors from growing, or stops the spread of them. The one that actually destroys tumors is the one that requires GMO."

I stood up. "How long do you think you'll take in making enough?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know one thing. This is not something that I think we should let the world know about right away."

I quickly agreed with him. "Yeah, definitely not! I mean, think about it. The pharmaceutical companies will lose a lot of money. They're not going to be happy about it."

"And, and it's not just that. It's going to be chaos. It's going to turn into a question of who gets it first. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah."

"And then people will say, 'Okay, let's horde the plants and not give them to anyone.'" That was sure to happen. "And that's why we've spent $50 million in acquiring as many of those seeds as possible from all parts of the world."

"Fifty-million? Wow!"

"Yeah, and once we get them, we lock them up in a secret facility which we have near Sky City." (Check the map.) "It's not underground or anything, but it's in a fairly isolated region, and we have our best system of guards there and metal boxes to store them in."

He stood up and started showing me several government documents in. "Now, the facility has its own research hospital and that's where we're planning to make more production of the stuff."

I started paging through the whole thing. "Um, how long did it take to make the gallon of medicine you have now?"

"Uh, about three days."

Another surprise! "Just three days?! I thought it'd taken weeks or months."

He laughed. "No, just three days. Now, I don't think you want to know how long it took to plant the, well, plant, because if I tell you how long it took, you're going to flip."

I knew Larry had said some shocking things to me which nearly made me get a heart-attack before, but this was something I had to know. I mean, this wasn't exactly the best secret in the world to keep. "Go ahead, tell me."

He looked very uncomfortable. "Um…well…basically, ever since cancer was identified."

"WHAT?! You mean, since ancient times?!" I might add here that cancer was first identified as early as 2500 years before our common era. In ancient Egypt.

I started feeling dizzy and fell back on the chair. "Water, give me water. I need water!"

Larry ran to the fountain and filled a cup with cool water. Then he brought it to me and said, "Come on, man, calm down."

I drank the water and said, "You mean…it takes 3,000 years for the plants to grow?"

"What? No, no! You misunderstood me. I mean, that's long we took I research and investigation. That's what I meant. The words didn't come out right. It's just that I'm too excited."

"Oh." Phew. That was a relief.

"We actually spent $2 trillion on all that."

I spit the water. "Two trillion dollars?!"

"Uh, not all at once, obviously. It's over the whole period of time we were researching the plant that could make this medicine. That's why we've had to raise taxes these past thousand years or so."

"Wow. That's a lot of money, even for a good cause."

He nodded. "Yeah, even for a good cause."

"How does it work, exactly?"

"What does?"

"The medicine? The one that stops the spread of tumors."

"Oh. Well, it sort of infiltrates itself into the tumors or the cancerous cells, and it reaches deep into the nucleus of the cells. Right into the genes. And it sort of neutralizes it. It repairs it or corrects the genetic malfunction that caused the cells to become cancerous."

"Oh. Sort of like an inside repair job?"

He nodded. "Inside repair job, or if it can't correct it, it just kills the cancerous cells."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah, and the GMO is supposed to be designed to be able to specially target the cancerous cells which we call tumors. That's what it is for. To kill only the bad cells. It's not like chemotherapy, which kills friend and foe."

"Yeah, besides chemotherapy has unpleasant side effects. Loss of hair, nausea, vomiting…"

"Yeah, and we're working on so that we'll have no side effects at all."

He closed the files of documents and put them back in the safe box. "With what we have now, that is the one gallon, we could cure two people."

I still had a motherlode of questions, obviously. "And, um, is that a universal rule?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, does the amount of medicine required have to do with factors like age, gender, weight, body type, cancer type, and stage of the cancer?"

"Oh, yes, definitely."

"So it's not like, one gallon for every two people no matter what?"

He shook his head. "No, actually we need to make corrections on that. Right now, we can't rescue those with highly advanced cancer. So for the moment, if you have advanced cancer, you're pretty much dead and there's no point in you getting the medicine. If you have large tumors all over your body, which is basically what advanced cancer is. But, we're working on that."

"So you think that later, even those people will be able to be cured or treated?"

"We're hoping, yes. But it is highly likely we will have that ability. But for now, it's not possible."

I nodded. I had to sit down. It was hard for me to wrap my head around. I shook my head and smiled. "Wow, this is a huge development."

Larry nodded. "A historic development. We could end so much suffering with this. So many lives and families wouldn't be ruined."

"Yeah."

There was a knock on the door. "What is it?" Larry yelled.

"We're ready to start, sir," said the voice.

Larry stood up. "Here. I'll show you how we do it."

I followed him out the office back to the lab.


	4. Chapter 4

"First," Larry started explaining, "we have to brew the leaves, if you know what I mean. Then we leave them out to ferment for a whole day."

I stopped short and stared at him. "Fermenting?!"

"Uh, no, not the alcoholic kind of fermenting. This sort of different. It makes them sort of just settles in so they'll be ready for the mixture. I couldn't think of a better way to do it."

"Oh."

"You see the GMO works by invading the tumor and correcting the genetic malfunction. But we need something to actually do it. You know we all have bacteria in our digestive tract to help us get the vitamins and minerals out of food?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we insert the GMO into a certain type of bacteria we've designed. And since they're living organisms, they've been trained, well not really trained, but created for that purpose. To correct the genetic make-up of the cancerous cells."

"Basically, you genetically alter the bacteria to correct other cells?"

"Kind of a paradox, but it does work. But if you have cancer, you'll need both things. The medicine from the plant which stops the spread of tumors and the GMO with the bacteria, which actually kills or corrects the cancerous cells within the tumors. Right now, we have less of the GMO one. The one that destroys the actual tumors. We call it Tumor Terminator."

"Smart name."

"Yes, but right now we don't even have a pound of the stuff."

"Not even a pound?!"

He shook his head. "Not even a pound of it."

"And, um, there's a question that's sort of troubling me, though, Larry?"

"What is it?"

"You think we should let the rest of the world know about this?"

"They're going to find out when we announce it. We have to announce it, Spiny."

I nodded. "Yeah, but what I mean is when? I mean, on the one side it's good because a lot of people could be cured or saved. But on the other hand it's bad, because once we do announce it…well, you know how corrupt and greedy human leaders are."

"Yeah. I know. All the presidents, prime ministers, kings, princes, and queens…they only care about themselves."

"Yeah, and when they find out, they're all going to say, 'Me first,' and, 'No, me first,' and all that. Before we know it, they're going to come with their guns and cannons and bombs and knifes, demanding to get it first."

"Fortunately, our guards are all prepared for those types of situations. We do have a plan of defense, and a certain protocol. We call it Operation Steal from the Public."

"Steal from the Public?!" I didn't really like the sound of that name. Or the operation, that is.

"You see the name…well, if anyone tries to steal or sabotage, then they don't get it."

"You mean…only those who deserve it will get it."

Larry gave a certain look in his face, like he was trying to explain something, but couldn't. "Well, that sounds cruel. We have to keep things in mind when buying and selling."

"Selling?! You mean we're going to sell it to the people?"

"Hold on, Spiny, hold on! Let me explain something to you. It just happened again. I said it wrong. Look, we live in a cruel world. Unfortunately, we are no longer the masters of this planet, humans are. And humans only care about money, not about helping others who are suffering. And if we don't keep buying the plants, then there's no medicine."

I sighed. "I guess that makes sense. But when it comes time to give it to the people, we won't charge anything, right?"

"Of course not. People suffer too much because of cancer. It's not worth making a profit of."

I nodded. I walked over to a table where there was a guy with a mask and gloves mixing plants. "Where are you getting the plants from?"

"From Brazil and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mostly Brazil."

I nodded.

"The mixture," Larry continued, "consists of the sap of a tree, the leaves another tree and the roots of s certain shrub."

"Which plants are those?"

He grabbed a paper in his binder and showed me. I saw the names of the plants, but I'm not telling you. You'll just have to guess and wonder forever and ever. Sorry.

"Oh!" Larry exclaimed. "And it also includes boiled tea from the petals of a flower which is nearly extinct."

"You're making it from endangered flowers?!"

"Yes. It's not really the kind of tea like from herbs. It's just the water that comes a result from when you boil the petals of the flower."

"And where does this flower come from?"

"That's kind of the bad part. It only grows in Brazil. And even there, it's extremely endangered. And it only grows in the deepest parts of the Amazon, in the inaccessible places. But that's not our biggest problem."

"What is?"

"They're in the vicinity of illegal mining and logging places."

The word mining and logging sent shivers all over me. I've been an environmentalist since forever and I've grown to detest and loath those kinds of companies and people. But Larry had more concerning news.

"Not only that, but Brazil has started to ask us why we want those flower petals."

"Are they suspicious?"

"I can't say that they're not. They know we're up to something. And they're determined to find out."

"And how will you do it so that things like spies, or satellites or spy planes don't catch us? I mean, they have eyes everywhere and on everyone these days."

I nodded. "I know. I thought about that. And that's why I've proposed to declare a no-fly zone over Amarkia."

I stared at him. "A no fly-zone? You mean, no planes of any sort from any other country can fly in our airspace?"

"It's a little extreme but it's necessary, Spiny."

I thought about that for a while. It was an extreme measure. I mean, suddenly tell the whole world that they can't fly in our airspace or travel by plane to Amarkia and not tell them the reason why? The thought kind of scared me, to be honest. But I knew that it didn't matter.

"I'm for it too. I would've said the same thing."

"So, you want me to inform the media?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I looked at my watch. It was almost six. Where had the time gone?! "Well, we need to get upstairs to dinner before the family starts to miss us."

"Yeah." He turned to the other workers. "Okay, thirty-minute break. Then back to work. Remember, this whole discovery was never made!"

They all nodded and agreed.

Larry and I went up back through the secret door that lead to our room. That way, nobody would miss us.

(MEANWHILE. ON A REMOTE PART OF THE COAST OF BRAZIL.)

12:59 pm, Local Time.

Location: Classified

"Okay, keep moving. Just two more boxes!" the commanding officer yelled.

Two young soldiers with the Amarkian emblem on their suits carried the last of the box with the Secret Luggage. Between themselves, they knew it as the Flower Petals. They had made a huge effort to make sure nobody had followed them.

Once the last box was in place, the captain said, "We all ready to go?"

"We are, sir," said the First Mate.

Before he could turn on the boat's engine, they heard a shout from the woods. "Halt!" Four Brazilian members of the armed forces came out, armed to the teeth. The captain's heart started lurching.

"We demand to speak to the captain," one of them yelled.

The Amarkian guards stopped them when they tried to get onboard. "You have no permission to get onto this boat."

"I have all the permission in the world," he said, cocking his huge gun at his head. "Now, what's going on?! What does your shadow government plan for now?"

"You better let us get on board and inspect those boxes," said another one of them.

The Amarkian guards pushed the two off and into the water. The captain ducked in his cabin, as the shooting began. He pushed the boxes under the windows and laid on them.

The struggling and shooting outside got worse. There was yelling and banging. He didn't know which side was winning. But he hoped. He kept on hoping.

He noticed that he'd barely started the ignition. He crawled on the floor to stay out of the line of fire. When he reached the dashboard, he revved it up and put the ship in full throttle. He felt the room moving on the waters and turned towards the east at full speed.

(BACK IN AMARKIA.)

Royal Palace.

6:55 pm

"That was a great dinner," I said. "Boy am I glad we've got you two," I said to the girls.

"Well, we're very thankful to have you. Otherwise, what would we do with all this food?" said Patty.

We all laughed. "I was thinking," Larry said, "why don't we all take a vacation on of these days? You know, see the sights. Visit historic places."

Before anyone could answer, a red light blinked on the wall. That usually means that an important news story is about to be transmitted. Then a part of the wall opens and a TV screen appears.

"We interrupt regular programming to bring you this special news bulletin: The government of Amarkia declared a No-Fly Zone about half an hour ago. This means that no foreign aircraft, military or commercial is allowed to fly in or near Amarkian airspace. At the moment, we have no more details. We'll keep you posted as we continue to find out."

Uh-oh.

Everyone was staring at me. And at Larry. I stared back, trying to look innocent. "What?"

"Spiny, what's this all about?" said Kathy.

"Yeah, why did you declare a No-Fly Zone?" Robert asked.

I looked at everyone. Then at Larry. He slightly shook his head. I turned back to my family. "That's classified information."

"Classified? Spiny, what's going on?" Kathy insisted.

"I already told you! It's classified and there's nothing to discuss. End of conversation!" I set my napkin down and stood up. "I'm going to my room."


	5. Chapter 5

I felt terrible. I'd never kept a secret from my family before. Never before. No matter how delicate the situation was. This was the first time. And how the heck was I supposed to keep a lid on this thing?! I mean a cure for cancer!

That's not just a piece of everyday gossip you get from junior high school. That's the kind of thing that will change billions of lives and the very fabric of society in all it' elements: social, political, economic, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

I went up to my room and threw myself on the bed. I stared at the ceiling. I didn't know how much of this I could take. The pressure was mounting like sand on the beach. Larry walked in. "Well, I have to congratulate you."

I scoffed. "For what?"

"For not telling. I know how hard this is for you. Believe me, I know. I'd like to tell everyone. But there's some things that even our loved ones can't know now because it would hurt them. It's better if they find out for themselves."

I sat straight up. "I know you're right. I just wish I could convince myself of that."

"Sure, you can. You can…" At that moment, Larry's phone beeped. He answered it. "Yeah. It's me. What?! When? Oh, my…keep me informed. All right."

"What happened?"

"Not good or bad, but worrisome. One of our boats which was carrying the rose petals was about to dock off the coast of Brazil when they were stopped by some Brazilian soldiers. They demanded to speak to the captain and check the cargo."

"What happened?"

"They had to Stage 2."

"Use of aggressive force, huh?"

"Yep. It's take out your guns, swords, and bayonets. So, our contract with Brazil is pretty much over."

"I hope the no other country starts to suspect, especially the U.S. You know4 how nosy they are. They're always meddling in other countries' affairs and are always suspicious of everyone."

"Yeah, I know. Fortunately, we can get the flower under other contracts. And from other places."

"What about the Democratic Republic of the Congo?"

"Well, they don't really have too much of that kind of flower. Mostly we just get seeds."

I stood up and started pacing. I quickly checked the hallways to make sure nobody was listening. Then I closed the door and locked it. "Do you think they're getting suspicious?"

"Who?"

"The Congo?"

"I don't think so. But this whole thing has affected our logging industry, too. As you know, we do allow some logging. Limited."

I wasn't too happy with that arrangement. Even if it was limited. "Yeah, I know."

"And of course, not all of Amarkia is forest or woods. The whole eastern third is desert, where there's no trees. And so, we have to give in, you know."

"I know, I know."

"But now, we've decided to shut down all logging industry in Amarkia and start importing wood. Which I must say is costing us quite a lot of money." Now, he started to sound concerned.

"Yeah, that's why I don't like to import or export. I prefer to be self-sufficient. You know, get everything from home."

"Yeah, but it's necessary. And economists have already mentioned their opinions on the news and on TV. They've said that they think it's a bad decision and that it will damage our economy. Especially since a lot of men are going to lose their jobs and that the logging companies might sue for ending contract early."

I didn't like the sound of that last thing too much. "That doesn't sound pretty. It's a good thing you're my lawyer."

"Yeah, I know. Otherwise, where would you be?"

I threw a pillow at him and we had a good laugh. A few hours later, it must've been almost eight. I was reading in bed and Larry was going over some reports. He got a text message. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"Our planes and helicopters just arrived with the supplies."

"Oh, good!"

"One of our choppers nearly went down, though. And it had the most amount of petals and seeds."

"What?!" I sat straight up. "It went down?!"

"No, it nearly did."

"Why did it almost go down? Where the ships too heavy?"

"Uh, that and the motor suddenly turned off."

"Oh, no!"

"Fortunately, our choppers have wings and it was able to glide some distance and the motors reactivated."

I sighed of relief. "That's good to know."

"And also, our trucks have arrived with other things we need. Bacteria, the brewers, all that. But now the question is, where do you want the operations to begin?"

Now it was up to me. Hmm. I walked across the room, pacing back and forth. "Where do you think we should?"

"Well, that's something that only you can say. You're the only one with the authority to say it."

"Well…we obviously can't do it in a major city."

"Obviously. But we can't do it in some small town in the middle of nowhere. We're going to have a lot of trucks coming back and forth. That would arouse suspicion."

"True. Where then?"

"Hmm. What's the place in Amarkia with the least population?"

Then it hit me. "I got it! In the Norther Plains region. In the prairies and grasslands. There's a lot of abandoned farm areas. They'd be perfect. And they're far away from highways, interstates, cities and towns. And there aren't any roads, paved or unpaved that lead to there. It's rough terrain, but it'd be perfect."

"Sounds good. I'll give orders for them to do right away. It's easier at night." He texted them back on his phone. "Well, now that's taken care of…" he turned out the lamp. "Goodnight."

I laughed. "Goodnight, Larry."

(TWO DAYS LATER.)

Spiny's Office

2:23 pm.

I'd just finished my lunch. Homemade fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Mmm. Just saying it makes my mouth water and my stomach growl. I was about to get back to work when Larry came in, bursting through the door, running and waving his hands in the air.

"Spiny, Spiny, Spiny!"

"What? What's happening? Who am I killing?"

"You're killing one man."

I stood up and ran to my gun and grabbed one of the handguns and loaded it. "Okay, just one question."

"What?"

"Who exactly am I killing?"

"James Robert."

"Oh, yeah…who's James Robert?"

"He's a traitor. And a thief. He was in our Anti-Cancer Operation."

"Well, what did he do so that I have to end his life?"

He leaned closer to me and whispered. "He was going to sell the recipes to make the medicine."

"He…wha…uh…HUH?!"

"And he was planning to put poison in it, too."

"He WHAT?!"

"Yeah. But we caught him in time."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot him or something!"

"Nah, I didn't have to do that."

"What'd you do? Cut off his head?"

"No! I tied him up and put him in a tunnel."

"And…"

"Slowly filled it with boiling, churning lava."

I sat down. "Oh. A slow, agonizing death, huh? Well, that's all he deserved!"

"Let me tell you something. Those who were watching were trembling like vibrators and said to them, 'No funny business!'"

I scoffed. "You said that?! They must've been scared to death."

He laughed and sat at his desk. "I do have some good news besides that horrible news. We have three more gallons of the stuff. Our operations had started in Sauropolis, but we've already moved them to that Secret Location. And we're expecting to have more by tomorrow."

"Really? Wow, that's what I call progress."

"Yes. In a month we should have 50 gallons. The reason that it's going to be so little is that we have to ration the petals and make the right amount of liquid proportionate to the bacteria."

"Just the right amount, huh? And have you come up with a name for the bacteria?"

"We're calling them Too-Morhs. Not Tumors, Too-Morhs. Different pronunciation."

"Appropriate name."

"They have a Latin name, but this is the common name."

"Yeah, a lot easier sounding."

"Yes, and we expect to make more bacteria than we actually need. These are the kind of bacteria that reproduce at very high rates. We've actually drawn up futuristic plans that we'll be able to make bacteria produce their own medicine. But that's a long-term goal."

"Yeah, I think we're a little bit far off that one."

He nodded. "Yeah." He got and grabbed a backpack. He started stuffing it with canned goods, some weapons, gear, boots, and other stuff.

"Where you going?"

"Oh, we're going on a scout mission to get more of the plants. I need to go to the deepest parts of the jungle. And in the caves, too. As you know, some of those caves have their own jungles too."

"Yeah, I know that."

You may be wondering how is it possible that jungles exist inside caves, right? Well, as for water, it flows down from the ground above. And in terms of light and heat, there's a vast system of underground crystals that reflect enough sunlight to make stuff grow.

"How long you going to be gone?" I asked.

"Not sure. A few days. Maybe a week or two. Let's see. Today's the 11th. Thursday. I should be back by Saturday."

"You're going now?!"

"Yeah. I need to. The faster I go, the faster we'll have the operations up and running."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Oh, and you should now. Once I enter those caves, I won't have any contact with the outside world."

"Not even satellite phones?"

"Not even satellite phones."

"Not even emergency back-up phones?"

"Not even…well, yes, I'll have those. But only in case of an emergency." He looked at his watch. "Well, I have to go now. The men are waiting for me. I'll see you in two days, hopefully. If not, then it means trouble."

He must've noticed my worried face, because he laughed and said, "Kidding! See you around." He walked out the door.

I know he'd meant it as a joke, but somehow I wasn't taking it as a joke. My mind had said that if he wasn't back by Saturday at 4 pm, then I should start to worry.


	6. Chapter 6

I didn't know whether I was right or not. All I knew is that, by Saturday at sundown, Larry still hadn't shown up. I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. I kept worrying that something had jeopardized the mission. Or what if news had leaked? What is someone saw them? What if there was another traitor among them?

That Sunday morning I kept pacing back and forth in my pajamas. I couldn't help worrying. Then my phone rang. I literally jumped across the room to grab it. "Hello!"

"Hello? Hey, it's me."

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Our mission is over. We took a little longer than planned. But we got what we were looking for. We should have enough to build five more facilities."

I sighed with relief. "Well, that's good."

"I want to prepare you for this, though. I think someone saw us because there are rumors going around of why we want those specific plants."

"Uh-oh."

"And that's not the worst of it. One of our men was talking to a co-worker near the facility and some people in the woods overheard them."

My heart started jumping in my chest. "They…they what?!"

"All they heard was GMO. They don't know it's for cancer. But it's worse, because opinion websites are starting to criticize us for using GMOs. I mean, some people think we're making biological bombs."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, and in some of the towns around the facility, there have been some protests and one small riot."

"Oh, no. It's starting to leak out, right?"

"Yeah, it is. I'm going to see what we can do. I'll call you later this afternoon to keep you updated."

"All right, bye."

"Bye." After he hung up, I stood there motionless. Our whole plan was starting to crumble, little by little. My mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour. What would we do if the world found out? Or, better said, what will we do _when_ the world finds out? That was inevitable.

The whole day was a blur. I guess I was so worried about it all that I didn't care a thing about anything else. I had a small breakfast then went up to my room and sat by and watched the clock. I didn't have lunch. The girls started to worry. They thought I was sick or something. It took some hard convincing, but I finally convinced them that it was nothing.

Nothing, ha!

I stood by all afternoon. I was actually getting tired of waiting. Not tired as in desperate or bored. I mean, really tired as in sleepy. I actually started getting really sleepy. I actually fell back on the bed without noticing. I was almost asleep when the phone rang again.

I stood up so fast that I got dizzy and fell back down. I closed my eyes shut and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

"Um, Spiny?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Something, uh, didn't exactly go as planned."

That took all the dizziness and drowsiness away instantly. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, one of the trucks was on its way to the facility and it was carrying flower petals and seeds. It…it lost control about three-fourths of the way and veered off the road. It crashed into a tree."

I could feel my heart in my throat. "Oh, no!"

"And of course, the sound of the crash attracted people. And when some dope called emergency responders, the people obviously saw everything they had been carrying."

I fell back on the bed. I needed time to remain calm. I was one point away from having a panic attack. "Well, uh, what now?" I said, my voice trembling.

"Well, right now people still believe that we're making biological weapons. But in case they ask us if it is for that, we'll just say 'no.'"

"And if they ask for the real reason?"

"Well, we'll just say 'no comment.'"

"Yeah, you expect people to be satisfied with an answer like that?"

"Uh, not really, but what can you do?"

"Well, I, I, I…"

"Don't panic, Spiny. Don't panic. Why don't you take a break or something? I won't be back till Wednesday probably. Get your mind off all this. Hang out with Lilia or go to Arnold's. No wait, bad idea. They've probably seen the news. They'll be asking you a lot of questions. Just hang out with Lilia, but don't answer any of her questions, got it?"

I exhaled deeply. "All right."

"Everything's going to be fine, Spiny. We'll find a way out of this. That's what friends do, don't they?"

I chuckled. "I guess so. Bye."

"Bye." Well…now what? I looked at the time. It was almost six pm. I had to get out of the Palace for a while. I texted Lilia: "Hey, beautiful."

A little while later, she texted, "Hey, cutie. How's my King Charming?"

"Fine. How about going to a Chinese buffet?"

"Sounds great. Be ready in ten minutes."

"Will your parents let you?"

"They're about to leave. My sister's in charge. Had to go on emergency."

"But will they let you go?"

"Sure they will. Be here in ten minutes or I'm coming to get you! ;)"

"Okay. Love you. B"

"Love you too."

I went in and took a quick shower. I changed into a new dress shirt I'd bought and my brown dress pants and shoes. This was semiformal so I didn't bother with a tie or anything. I combed my hair and walked out my room.

Kathy was walking by. "Where you going?"

"Taking Lilia to a Chinese buffet."

"Oh. You going to be late?"

"I don't know. I just need some fresh air. If not, I'm going to explode. I'll be back maybe at ten. But you all better be asleep."

She smiled. "We will. Have fun. But not too much fun."

"Kathy!" I shook my head. Really! Sisters can be such a drag sometimes! But I still love her. Oh well. What can a guy do? I stepped outside and walked up to Lilia's door. I rang her doorbell. She opened the door. "Oh, hi."

"Hi."

"Come on in."

"Thanks." I wiped my feet and stepped in. Lilia was brushing her hair. "Sorry I'm not ready. I just started brushing my hair."

I smiled at her. "It's all right. I'm in no hurry." _Yes, you are! You're about to have a complete personality/nervous breakdown!_ "Um, Lilia?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, I don't want to sound forward or anything, but is it all right if, I, uh…" I pointed at the hairbrush. She looked at where I was pointing and smiled. "You-you want to brush my hair?"

My stomach got all jittery like a bowl of quivering Jell-O. I nodded. I could feel my face burning. Even though she was my girlfriend, it still happened. "Sure, you can. I'd love to have you brush my hair." She handed me the brush and sat down facing away.

"Um, how would you like it?" I asked.

"However you want my hair to be."

"Oh, it doesn't matter to me. I think your hair is beautiful in any way. Um, maybe except falling off." That made her laugh. I love making her laugh.

"Oh, Spiny. Well, just whatever way is easier for you."

"All right. I'll just comb it straight back. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fine."

I nodded. "Okay, then." I started running the brush through her soft, delicate, silky brown hair. It sent shivers all over me every time I touched it.

"So, how have you been, love?" she said to me.

"Huh? Oh fine, just fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. How about you?"

"I'm been fine, too."

"Why did you parents have to go so fast?"

"Oh. They had to see an aunt of mine." She sighed. "She's…she's very sick. She has cancer."

 _Cancer?!_ I didn't react in the way I should've. I should've said something like, "Oh, I'm sorry!" or "I hope she gets better." Instead I, uh, gave a sudden jerk in my hand and it happened to be the one with the brush in it.

"OW!"

"Oh, sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"It's all right. What happened?"

"Nothing, it's just that I had a muscle spam. That's it."

"Oh. Well, anyways, that's why they left suddenly."

"Oh. What kind of cancer does she have?"

"Leukemia. It's not that advanced, but it's getting close to being untreatable. But she doesn't want to have chemotherapy or surgery. She keeps on believing that they'll find a cure in time."

Oh, man. This was definitely not helping me any. I stopped brushing her hair. She stood up. I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around so that we were face to face. "Spiny, what's wrong?"

 _I have the cure! Larry and I have the cure! We can save your aunt!_ I couldn't help thinking all that. But I didn't say it. Instead, I just said, "I…I…" I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to hold in the tears.

"Spiny. What's wrong?"

I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug. I hugged her tight. She hugged me back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just…I'm just emotional, I guess. I guess it made me remember my mom and dad."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, it's okay. I'm fine, really." I pulled away and wiped my eyes. She looked a little teary. I felt guilty. I'd probably given her the idea that her aunt wouldn't survive. I felt like a dope. I sighed. "Well, shall we go?"

"Sure." She went to the stairs and shouted up towards the top. "I'm going out with Spiny! I'll be back by ten!"

Her sister's voice said, "Okay! Have fun, but not too much!"

Lilia blushed. "Shut up!"

I laughed. "Why is everyone telling us not to have too much fun?"

She smiled. "Who knows? Shall we go?"

"Sure." I opened the door for her and stepped out into the evening air. We walked to a nearby Chinese buffet. I paid for both of us and the waiter showed us a quiet, cozy, romantic table for two in a corner.

I had a nice time. As usual between couples. I completely forgot about everything. We spent hours there, laughing and kissing over chow-Mein and orange chicken and of course, chocolate pudding.

Afterwards, when it got dark, we went to the park. We sat on a bench and admired the stars. I was lost in deep thoughts. "You know something?" I said.

"No, what?" said Lilia.

"The stars, the universe, and all that we can see…it's like an ocean."

She looked at me funny, then looked up at the starry heavens. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I mean. You're always amazed by the enormity and the immensity of it all. It never stops surprising you. You're always in awe and wonder. And you feel so…insignificant against it all."

"You know, I never thought of it that way." She looked up, then at me. "But you know what else never stops surprising me and always leaves me in awe and wonder?"

"What does?"

"It's something that's even bigger than any ocean or any starry heaven. It's something majestic and inspiring and awesome and wonderful."

"What is it?"

She smiled at me in such a warm way. "The love between you and me."

That touched my heart in a way I never thought was possible. I suddenly felt on top of the world and away from all the troubles. I smiled at her. "I love you, girl!" I whispered.

"I love you, boy!" she whispered back.

I put my arm around her and she put her head on my shoulder. We were like that for a long while. We didn't say anything, but kept our eyes on the beautiful stars. I couldn't help looking up and saying, _Thank you. Thank you for giving us this beautiful universe. Your paintwork and artwork is more beautiful than anything._ I'm always so admired by creation. It makes me want to write poetry and songs.

When it got to be near ten, we started for home, comforted by each other's silence. When we got to her house, her parents' car was in the driveway and the living room lights seemed to be turned on.

"They're back!" Lilia said.

"Is it all right if I say hi?" I said.

"Sure!" She grabbed my hand we ran to the front door. She walked in and went to the living room. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."

I was about to say "hi." But I was stopped when I saw it. I knew that reality had hit me hard in the stomach.


	7. Chapter 7

Mrs. Woods was crying. And I mean, crying. At the top of her lungs. Her eyes were redder than a tomato and wetter than a wet sponge. Lilia's sister was trying to comfort her but was also crying deeply. Mr. Woods also had teary eyes and was trying to comfort both.

"What's going on?" Lilia asked, worried.

Mrs. Woods tried to talk but she broke into sobs.

Then her dad said, "We…saw your aunt today. She suddenly got very sick and lost consciousness. We took her to the hospital. They examined her and they said…they said that…" he voice got down to a whisper. I guess he couldn't hold it in either. I was too afraid of what he was going to say. Lilia looked terrified.

"What? What did they say?!" she said.

He sighed. "That she only has days of life."

Time suddenly stopped. Time and space suddenly stopped. I feeling which I didn't know even existed came over me. It started out as shock. Then it turned into pain. Then sadness and grief. And finally…fear.

Lilia ran up the stairs to her room. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen. Like a statue. Then, my mind clicked back into reality. I ran up the stairs to Lilia's room. I didn't bother knocking on her door. I opened it and saw her sitting on her bed, crying softly.

I walked up to her. She sniffled and looked at me. She bit her lip. "Could you…sit next to me?"

"Sure," I said. But first she asked me to close the door. I did so and went back to sit next to her. She suddenly started crying loudly. I put my arms around her. She cried on my shoulder. I wanted to comfort her. But I felt like an idiot. Like a traitor.

I even felt guilty. I felt guilty. Here I had the cure for all their problems and sufferings. And I was being forced not to reveal it. Well…I couldn't stand it. Like the saying goes: Some rules were made to be broken.

And now it was time to practice it.

"Lilia, there's something I have to confess."

She sniffled and looked at me. "What?"

I sighed. "Larry and I have a cure for cancer."

"What?!"

"Larry and I have a cure for cancer."

She was obviously in shock. And I didn't blame her. I was the same way when Larry first told me. But I knew how to take care of that. I gave her a simple, but reasonable explanation of how it works.

You should've seen the way her face changed. She had the biggest smile in the world. "Oh, Spiny Kyverná, I love you!" She knocked me over and kissed me so hard, I think she rattled my teeth.

And I almost died of asphyxiation. When she finally let me breathe, she said, "You're the best!"

"Yeah, but could you do me one favor?"

She caressed my hair and looked at me with a fondness I'd never noticed. "Anything, for you." Wow, even her voice. She had such affection. I'd never noticed it either.

"Um, could you please let me sit up?"

"Oh, sorry!" She got off and I sat up. Ah! Feels good to stretch those back muscles. I mean, she'd pinned me pretty hard. Then I said to her, "Now look. This is confidential. It's government information. I've made an exception with your family because I can't stand to see your suffering. And I'm not guaranteeing anything. I don't even know if the medicine will work on her."

She shook her head. "I don't care. You've given me a ray of hope. Even if it's the last one, I want to hang on to it." She put her arms around my neck and held me tight. "I love you!"

Great! Now what was I supposed to do? "Well, I'll make a deal with you. I'll come tomorrow early and you and I can tell your family. How's that?"

She nodded. "Okay…but um, can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure."

Wow, her face blushed harder than I'd ever seen. Even more than when we had our first kiss. "Could you…could you…could you spend the night here?"

I felt like someone had just told me that Kathy was having a baby. "What?" I said.

"Please?! You could sleep on the floor next to my bed. I…I'm so thankful and I love you so much, I…I just need to have you close to me. I feel so safe."

"Lilia…"

"Please?!" She looked at me with such a way of pleading. Sigh. What could I do? "All right. But I'm going to stay on the floor." I made sure to emphasize this. "I'll be right back."

She grabbed me. "What for?"

"Well, I need to get my pajamas and my toothbrush, my acne soap, and my slippers. And, most important, my sleeping bag and my pillow."

"Okay. But when you come back, come up the tree to my window."

"What?! You mean you aren't going to tell your mom and dad?"

She was started to beg me when I said, "Okay, okay. I'll be right back."

I got out of her room and raced down the stairs. I made a brief goodbye and goodnight and raced back to the Palace. Huh. The family had obeyed me. Everyone was sleeping and the lights were all out. I got in quietly and creeped up to my room. I packed up my stuff.

I left a note on my bed saying I'd been invited to a last-minute sleepover. Never mind explanations.

Then I creeped out again and raced back to Lilia's house. I'd gotten pretty used to climbing trees, so that wasn't a problem. Once I was on her window, I tapped on it. She opened it and let me back in.

"Lilia Woods, you are insane!"

She smiled. "No, I'm in love! I'm sorry, Spiny. I don't know what's come over me, but I just need you close while I'm sleeping. On the floor that is."

I crossed my arms. "Yes, I'm on the floor and only I'm on the floor."

She smiled again. "I know, Spiny. When we got together, we agreed to this. We agreed to stay this way until we grew up and got married." In case you didn't know, when Lilia and I got together for the first time, we agreed to set limits. One of those was to stay virgins until we grew up and got married.

And we both do everything to respect that. That may be old-fashioned and outdated to your friends or peers, but I call it high morals and the key to happiness and self-respect.

Anyways, I set out my sleeping bag on the floor next to Lilia's bed. Meanwhile, she changed in her bathroom and brushed her teeth. I waited patiently while she finished. I'd seen the inside of her room dozens of times. But there was something different. I guess it was the current circumstances.

She came out, wearing white pajama pants and a light pink pajama top. Shirt. Blouse. Whatever you call it! Anyways, I went in and changed and brushed my teeth. Then I got into my sleeping bag. Lilia had turned off the ceiling light and turned on a small lamp. She came over and kissed me. "Goodnight. And thank you. For everything."

I couldn't help smiling. I have to admit that I liked being with her at that moment. It was just like a real sleepover. "Sure. I love you too. Goodnight." I laid down my head on my pillow. She turned off the lamp and climbed into her bed. The moonlight was peering in through her window. I was right in the middle of it.

The docile and innocent way that she'd done all this amazed me. I guess we learn new things every day. I sighed deeply. "You want to talk?" she whispered.

I looked at her face through the darkness. "I don't know. What about?" I whispered as softly as I could.

"Anything."

"How about if I say how crazy this is?"

She giggled quietly. "Then that makes you crazy for listening to me."

"Well, that make you even crazier for coming up with that idea."

She threw one of her pillows at me. Landed right in my face. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be?" I said. I threw it back at her. She tried shushing me, but couldn't help laughing into her pillow.

Come to think of it, I couldn't help laughing either and I had to bury my face in the pillow. When the laughter finally passed, I looked up at her. She still had that same smile. I shook my head. "Well, I finally get to know you."

"Same here."

"Go to sleep, will you?"

She giggled. "Okay. On one condition."

"What?"

"I want a goodnight kiss."

"All right." I stood up and sat on her bed. She stood up, the springs squeaking and leaned her face to mine. I kissed her lips as softly and affectionately as I could and caressed her face and hair. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I stood up and got down in my sleeping bag. She laid back on her bed. She went to sleep pretty quick. I had a lot on my mind. While I'll admit that I really was enjoying this moment, I couldn't help worry about her aunt. And Larry. And what would happen when…when the time came to tell the world.

I finally fell asleep about half an hour later. I dreamed…what did I dream? I can't remember. It had to do something with swimming at the beach. I guess I missed that. I woke at around two in the morning. The moon had gone down so it was pitch-black. I felt something warm and soft on my head.

It took me a while to realize that Lilia's hand was dangling from the edge of her bed and it came to rest on my head. I took it gently and kissed the back of it. Then I held it close and fell asleep with her hand in mine.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up at seven, probably. I didn't have my watch and there was no alarm clock in sight. Well, when it's summer vacation, kids hide their alarm clocks. I got up slowly. Lilia had drafted to the other side of her bed.

Man! Her floor sure was hard! I had a crick in my back! It felt like I'd slept on wood. Oh, yeah. I had. She'd changed the carpet to wood. I'd forgotten. I rolled up my sleeping back and stepped in her bathroom to wash up and change.

When I came out, I was going to wake her, but I got a text from Larry. "Come down to office. Quick!"

I automatically gathered my things and opened the window. I was about to leave, when I turned around to Lilia. I went back to her and kissed her. I didn't want to wake her. She looked so blissful and beautiful and innocent. I grabbed a piece of paper from her notebook and a pencil. I explained to her that Larry had called me down to the office. Then I climbed out of her window and down the tree.

Good thing for me, no one had seen me. I raced over to the Palace and got into TIV. I only hoped that the engine starting up wouldn't wake up my family. I quickly got out of there and drove down to the office.

When I finally got there, Larry was waiting for me. "It's about time! Have I got news for you! I ordered some breakfast. I guess you need it."

"Yeah, I do."

"Sorry for calling you like this, but it's urgent."

"It's all right. Has it got to do with the cure?"

"Yep."

He went over to our coffee machine and made us two iced cappuccinos. "You do have to admit, though."

"Admit what?" I said, sitting at my desk.

"That this whole thing is the most historic breakthrough in all history."

"Ha. That's an understatement."

"Yeah. We have a lot more plants and more that are being planted. We should've a whole lot more by the end of the week. What do you think we should do with the medicine while we wait to announce it?"

He handed me my cup of coffee. "Well…store it in a safe place."

"Oh, yes! Gee, that's a great idea! Store it in a safe place at a secret location and pretend nothing ever happened!"

I glared at him. "Are you being sarcastic with me?"

"Yes!"

"Well, don't blame me! We've done everything we could! We have all the security measures in place. You can't expect miracles!"

"True, true."

Our breakfast arrived at that moment. I paid the guy and after he left I asked the one question that had been troubling me. "So…when should we announce it?"

Larry shook his head. "I don't know. That's going to be your decision. The clock is ticking. We just need a little bit more time so we can have more of the stuff. Just a little more time."

I stood up and started pacing. "Yeah, but how long?"

"How about two weeks?"

I suddenly remembered Lilia's family. The way her mom was crying. The look on Lilia's face and the way it changed when I told her and how happy she was when she'd gone to bed with me next to her bed on the floor. "How about one week?"

He sighed. "One week, it is. Sir, yes, sir!"

"How do you think people will react when we announce it?"

He exhaled deeply and sat at his chair. "Initial shock and skepticism."

"Huh. I'd never thought of the latter. How do you think companies like CVS and Walgreen's will react?"

"Ah, they might get angry. And they're probably going to send in snipers and do to you what they did to Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi or another one of those. But too many have died for us to worry about that. Too many and too young."

I nodded. "True. How do you think other countries will react?"

"Well, I don't see why they should feel threatened. But they will get jealous."

"Ha! That's for sure," I said, munching into my scrambled eggs. "I hope they don't send a massive coalition invasion."

"Well, that's another reasons that for the past few months or so, we've been running some serious military exercises. And we especially don't want Dr. Ork to find out."

I should mention a little bit about him. He's a member of an evil group known as the Intergalactic Evil Organization. Or the IEO. He makes living weapons. Yeah, that's right. Living weapons. The last time we saw him it was in Antarctica about thirty years ago. He'd made plans to make living tanks and planes. Good thing for us, we stopped him and destroyed the plans.

"Want to try and kill him?"

"No way!" I said. "That's like killing Hopper Popper." Oh, that's another villain. He's not that evil. He's more of a nuisance. He always wears a black tuxedo and black top hat. He's about 6 feet 6 inches tall and very, very skinny. He has sharp, piercing gray eyes and a long, ugly witch-like nose. He's a master at reverse psychology, riddles, and getting us into sticky situations. I mean, on one occasion, he actually managed to kill him, but at his tombstone, we forgot to get rid of his hat, and that's where he escaped.

"Oh, hey, remember what happened with Hopper Popper back in…when was it? It was in 1977."

I shook my head. "No, what happened?"

"We had him surrounded in his bunker, even underground. And well, he asked if he could let him write his will. And we thought it over and we thought it would be cruel if we didn't let him. So we gave him paper and pencil. And you know what he said?"

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Watch out! Heads up!' Don't you remember what you did?" Larry said, almost laughing.

"No, I don't." I actually do remember but let's just say it's not something I'm proud of.

"We all expected attacks and when you and everyone else were covering their heads, we dropped our guns and he got away."

"How could I forget? It was on The New York Times. _Why These Things Nearly Went Extinct_. I had that newspaper banned here for about ten years."

Larry laughed. "That's Hopper Popper for you. He attacks when you most expect it, he doesn't attack when you least expect, so what can you expect?"

I stared at him. "What?"

"See? Even when we talk about him he gets up all mixed up."

I laughed. "Yeah, amazing." At that moment, I got a text on my phone. It was from Lilia. She said, "I saw your note. Thank you SO much for staying with me. I loved it! It felt so great! I was kinda sad you weren't here. I wanted to pillow fight with you. But I understand. Go and get them! Save the world! I love you forever and ever! Bye. XOXO."

I blushed just looking at it. I felt warm and happy. Then Larry went on talking about another one of our enemies. "You remember Hexxus?" He's the Master of Pollution and he feeds on oil, smoke, and fire.

"What about The Infestors?" I said. Those are a group who tried to begin illegal oil drilling in Amarkia and sell it while also stealing gold and diamonds.

"And all the terrorists in the world?"

"How about Ogthar?" He's an evil guy who's currently locked in his stone prison about five miles beneath one of our volcanoes. It's in a rock cave and the key to unlocking him is buried in place so secret that it is said that the people who hid it don't remember where it is.

"And then there's The Outsiders," Larry said. I immediately had a flush of terrible memories. Those were the ones who were linked to the death of my parents. I sent them into exile when I returned to the throne in 70 CE. I was only eleven. They're currently on two islands in the Eastern Pacific. Nobody knows it exists and they've been so long there that they've degenerated so that they've become wild dinosaurs again.

"We've actually seen Flames recently," said Larry.

"Really?" I said with interest.

As the name suggests, Flames is sort of a monster in the form of fire. It has a face and can extend arms and legs and is very destructive. "Where did you see him?" I asked.

"We saw him out in Pluto."

"Really? I bet he's only a small fire out there."

"Almost nothing, actually. Ironically, he's purple, the strongest type of fire."

"The strongest?! How do you explain that if he's in Pluto where it's freezing and dark?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I finished my breakfast and stood up. "Well, enough of this. Back to our original problem. Announcing the cancer cure."

"Yes, well. When we do announce it, the whole IEO is going to find out. Every one of them."

"I know. That's not comforting."

"But I don't think they'll want to destroy the recipe. I mean, they have people with cancer, too."

"That's true. And not all of their civilizations which they own are evil."

"Yeah," he said. "Take for example the Red Criminal. He had originally planned to make a system so that his King would have empathy for him in the Royal Court. And sadly, it turned out to be an army that shot him and made him evil."

"So he used it to his own advantage and now he's evil."

"Yep. He's currently in Alaska somewhere. Not that he's a threat, but he's there somewhere."

The Red Criminal is a human. He's about seven feet tall. He wears a detective-style raincoat. Like Sherlock Homes. Except he doesn't work against crime. He works for it.

"And then," said Larry. "There's The Sub." He's sort of the IEO's left hand at warfare, especially at seawater warfare.

"And the right hand would be…" I said.

"That would be Hexxus."

"And who's the Head of the IEO?"

"Uh, that would be Rexy." Rexy, is not a T. rex, as you might think. He's a Giganotosaurus. He's olive green in color with creepy, evil-looking gray eyes that make you have nightmares, especially when that's the only thing that comes up on the screen. Gray eyes, just staring at you, with the reflection of his innocent victim from far away.

He's actually my personal archenemy. Need I say more?

You may be wondering, how about evil female characters? Or mistresses of evil, as they call them? Well, they have plenty of those. Larry was just starting to talk about them, too.

"There's the Dragon-Girl," said Larry.

"Oh, yeah! I remember her. She has her good twin, right?" I, uh, actually used to have a crush on her good twin.

"Well, she had."

"She had? You mean she killed her?"

"Yes, and besides, she's not really Dragon-girl anymore. Now she's Dragon-woman. And then there's The Poison." Now, The Poison is this shape-shifting object that can turn itself into a woman. It works by bribing and seducing. And…I will not go into any details about the seducing. I have enough trouble having nightmares about sirens that lure me and then rip me to shreds. Just watch Ice Age 4.

Anyways…

"Those are the bribers and stealing masters of the IEO," Larry explained.

"And who would be the financial or economic masters?" I said.

"That would be Rocky. He's the finger-bender. He's got the money to bribe." Rocky was more or less my alternate personal archenemy. He's a terrorist and…well, rapist. A cruel, heartless, sadist, monstrous, inhuman rapist. On repeated occasions he's tried to rape my sister Kathy. Thank goodness he never has, but…well, you know how it makes me feel. I love my sister so much and…well, you know. I'd rip Rocky to shreds or die before letting him get near any girl. Even Kylie.

I sighed. "Well, we sure do have a lot of enemies besides all the terrorists on Earth and our enemy countries and the rebel groups here in Amarkia."

"Yeah, but our most dreaded enemies, and by that I mean those who fight with armies…are the Night Terrors."

That struck me. I'd never heard of them. "Night Terrors? Who are they? I've never heard of them. I don't remember seeing them on The List."

"Well, they're the newest ones."

"Newest ones?! When did they join? I mean, uh…"

"Well, they aren't really new. They're more like unknown. We don't know too much about them."

This was getting very interesting to me. "Well…what do we know about them?"

"Well, they wear knight's armor. But they have no physical bodies. They're just like floating knight's armor."

I shivered at the thought of that. That's sort of upsets me. The thought of clothes walking around. Empty. "F-floating?"

"And the only thing physical about them is their red eyes. And with black pupils. They also resurrect a certain time after being killed. And they clone themselves and teleport."

"Stop it! Stop, Larry! You're going to make me have nightmares!"

"But it's true!"

"I don't care. I don't want to hear it!"

"But, I…"

"SHUT UP!"


	9. Chapter 9

A few hours later, in the early afternoon hours, I was going over some things. Larry suddenly stood up. "Okay, I got news. Good news is that we now have enough of the medicine to cure 300 people!"

"Hey! Wait to go, Larry!"

"Yeah, the sort of bad news is that there might be some questions regarding as how effective the bacteria might be, especially in people who've used drugs prescribed to them by their doctor to reduce the tumors. And we also have, uh, scandalous news."

I dropped my pencil. "Scandalous news? Why would we have scandalous news? What is it?"

"Well, some newspaper columns like to make your life miserable. Especially those based in the US. They're calling it Anarchy in the Monarchy. About you and Lilia."

My heart started throbbing. "What about her and I?"

"Well, they spread these, um, rumors about you and her. That you and her have been…you know."

My eyes popped open. "They've been saying that?!"

"Uh, the good thing is that people don't believe that stuff. They've learned to trust you."

I exhaled. "Well, that's good to hear."

"Yes, and oh, three workers are in the hospital."

"In the hospital? What happened?"

"They were attacked by killer bees."

"Killer bees?! We have killer bees? How did they get here? They're from South America."

He shrugged. "Well…I'm guessing that in one of those trips to Brazil, we uh, might have picked up several thousand six-legged two-winged black and yellow stowaways."

I sighed. "That's all I need in life. Killer bees."

"We've already taken measure to contain their spread. We've contained up to 75% of them."

I got another text at that moment. "My aunt is in critical condition. Please, do something, quick!"

My heart started racing. I could feel my stomach doing somersaults. I got and started pacing back and forth quickly. My mind kept telling me that the time had come to say it. But my heart kept saying that it wasn't time. I didn't know what to do.

My mind pictured Lilia's family. And the huge smile she had when I told her the secret. Then I knew what I had to do. "Larry?"

"Yeah?"

"It's time."

You should've seen the look on his face. He knew perfectly what I was talking about. "What?!"

"I said it's time. The time has come for us to announce it."

"But, but we agreed to wait one more week."

"That's too long! If we announce it now, we could save a lot of people from death a week from now!"

He sighed. "I understand. I'll call a press conference immediately and tell them to hold the frontlines of all the newspapers of the country. The world does need to know. Why don't you go home and I'll take care of it."

I sighed. "Thanks buddy." I patted him on the shoulder. "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Sure. See you."

I grabbed my things and left, with my mind at much more ease. When I got home, I had my dinner, showered and went up to bed. I told everyone I didn't want to be disturbed. I said I had a headache and needed the extra rest.

The truth is, I didn't really want to be around when the news came out with it. I don't know why, but I just didn't want to be around anyone when it was announced. I tried to get a good sleep that night. But I couldn't. My phone kept buzzing with missed calls and text messages. I could hear a lot of talking outside on the streets.

The next morning, I left about fifteen minutes before sunrise, trying to avoid bumping into anyone. Surprisingly, I was successful. I was the first one to arrive at the office. But just in case, I tip-toed quietly down the stairs to my office.

I walked in and found Larry already there. He had fallen asleep on his desk. "Hey, Larry. Larry. Larry! LARRY!"

"Huh? What? Lilia and Spiny, I know pronounce you husband and wife." He opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Larry, you were asleep. You know, asleep? The antonym of being awake."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He got up and stretched. "Well, aren't you the early bird?"

"Yeah, and I caught the worm sleeping."

"Oh, come on give me a break! I've been all night. I was almost killed after I made that announcement."

I sat at my desk. "What did happen?"

"Oh, well….what do you think happened?!" he sounded angry.

"Hey! I'm just asking!" I made myself a hot cup of cocoa. "So, how did they react?"

"Well, at first a lot of excitement, mostly from common citizens. Skepticism from experts and interrogators. I mean, they didn't really believe it. They were like, 'Are you sure?' A few did outright accuse us of being liars. There's a lot of optimism on the part of other countries. Uh, our enemy countries haven't responded."

I sat back down. "What about the medical community and the pharmacy companies?"

"Uh, quite angry. They're going to lose millions of dollars in profit. They pretty much depend on people being sick to get money. And a few of them outright said that they weren't going to give up that easy."

"Have we got any threatening responses?"

"Uh, no not yet."

Yet. That word really troubled.

"And then," Larry said, "a lot of scientists, those that are world-famous and all have demanded access to our facilities. We've denied them that, but they want to know exactly how it works and if it does work. I mean, there are people, especially those in the medical community who claim it's only a more modernized version of chemotherapy."

"Well, it's a relief to hear that most people are taking it positively."

"There is one thing, though. Our enemies, by that I mean the pharmacy and medical companies, are claiming that the bacteria which we have genetically modified can be dangerous and make the cancer even worse."

"Can it make it worse?"

"Absolutely not!" he slammed his fist against the table. "Well, there is one…it's uh, Cancercerness. It's a contagious form of cancer which can spread if the bacteria are altered in some way."

What. Did. He. Just. Say? "Contagious cancer?!"

He laughed nervously. "It's nothing!"

"Nothing?! Do you realize what would happen if there was an outbreak of that? Everyone on Earth would die!"

He pushed me back into my seat. "Calm down! Now, look, it's not that simple. In order for that to happen, someone would have to mess up really bad while making the medicine or steal the recipe and modify the bacteria on purpose."

"Well, it just might as well happen."

"Yeah, come to think of it, that's not a good defense in case we were taken to the UN Court."

"Exactly! So, I say that we just say that the medicine works just fine and that it's perfectly safe."

"You mean lie? Okay, I can do that."

"Lying?! What do you mean lying?"

"Hey! It's not like they came up and asked me, 'Can you genetically modify the bacteria to do something evil?' And as a matter of fact, they did ask that question."

"Oh, great! And what did you say?"

"Uh…uh…uh…I said no."

"Just a simple no?" I asked.

"Yeah, just a simple no. You see, they were asking me if I wanted to do it. Can't you see it? Look at it from this point of view. They asked me _can_ you do it? And I said, 'no,' because I don't want to do it. But if they would've said, can _anybody else_ do it? Ah! You see?"

I shook my head and smiled. "Yeah, I see. Now I know why you handle the reporters."

"You see reporters are very dumb when they make questions like this."

"Yeah, reporters are not very smart in general. And they aren't very humane and are quite cruel."

"On top of that, the top reporters of international news lines have started flooding in. I tell you, about an hour after we announced it, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Brian Williams, and Armando Guzman all came in by plane at the airport. It's everywhere now. But we have another problem."

"I'd be worried if we didn't. What is it?"

"Some countries have already asked us to sell them some of the stuff."

"Really? Already they want to buy it?"

"That's a problem because right now we only have enough for 330 people. That's why I suggested waiting for time. To have at least for a thousand or so."

"Larry, we have enough people sick in Amarkia. Too much time and too many people have died."

Now, you may be asking yourself, how is it possible that there is cancer in Amarkia where there is no artificial food, no smoking, no illegal drugs, no pollution or any kind, and all that? But remember, genetics also play a role. It's like with obesity. Some people do a ton of exercise and eat only veggies and fruits and drink only water their whole lives, and they stay fat. It's in their genes and they stay fat.

I'm an example of that. For example, I eat quite a lot, maybe because I'm a teenager, but I don't gain a ton of weight. It's something that runs in the family. We refer to it as genetically-advanced metabolism. When I eat anything, even something that's supposed to be really fattening, my body burns it up like crazy. Even if I forget to exercise, which doesn't happen too often.

"And, on top of that, countries like Brazil and the DR of the Congo are saying, 'We helped them!'"

I scoffed. "The same Brazil that sent its soldiers to invade our boats and shoot at our captain?"

"Yeah, well, if we said that, it would heat up hostilities. So, why get into trouble? So I just said, 'Yeah, they helped us by selling the seeds.'"

I shrugged. "Well, in a way, without them knowing it, they did help."

He laughed. "Yeah, and I was like, 'if they're happy, then it's fine with us. No objection.'"

By now, it was almost seven in the morning. We ordered our breakfast. The guy who came down to give it to us seemed very happy and congratulated us and joked about reserving a batch of medicine for him.

At least, I think he was joking.

I hope he was.

Was he?


	10. Chapter 10

A few hours later, when it was about 11:45 am, Larry came back to the office from getting some reports. "Okay! We have more reports on the reactions. There is still some skepticism, naturally."

"Well, we did expect that, remember?"

"Yeah. Out of the 20 million people that inhabit Amarkia, about three thousand or so have cancer." _Yeah_ , I thought. _Including my girl's aunt. My possible future aunt-in law. If there is such thing as that._

"Three thousand? Really? Well…I guess it's better than thirty thousand."

He laughed. "You got that right. And well…let's just wait, Spiny. Let's just wait and see what happens. The next few hours will be crucial."

I nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. I can't take this suspense much longer."

We continued working in silence. Then, about halfway through lunch, Larry got a phone call. I had no idea who it was calling him. He was on the phone for almost an hour. But he didn't give a single clue as to who it was. "Okay, thanks, bye."

"What was that? You were on the phone for almost on hour."

Larry looked downright concerned. "Well, that was our Minister of Foreign Affairs."

"What did he say?"

"China and Russia launched cyber-attacks on us."

"They did what?!"

"They launched cyber-attacks to try to hack into our systems and shut down our security so they could send in agents to steal the medicine. They weren't successful. We caught the virus in time and destroyed it. They aren't too happy about it and are threatening us with brute force."

I lay back in my chair. I sighed.

"We've started stashing the medicine up as of an hour ago and we have trucks delivering it to where there are the sickest patients. Of course, if they have very advanced cancer…well, they're basically goners."

I felt my eyes get teary. "You mean…"

He nodded and sighed. "It's cruel, but…the medicine isn't going to help them, so why waste it when others could use it?"

I shrugged. "I know it's the best way but…"

Then the image of Lilia's aunt came back into my mind. "Larry, I don't know if what I'm going to ask you is legally right. But in my heart I know it's the right thing to do morally, ethically, and humanely."

"What is it?"

"Lilia's aunt is sick with leukemia. I don't think she's a lost case, but she's very sick. The doctors said that she has only weeks of life. I think she can be helped."

Larry looked hesitant. "I don't know Spiny. I mean, it might not save her. And that might be needed by someone else."

"Larry…please, try to put yourself in my place. Or in Lilia's place. What matters now is that they have at least one last glimmer of hope. Why kill it?"

He sighed. He thought for a good, long while. "All right. Go ahead."

I nodded. I got my phone and called Lilia. "Lilia?"

"Hi, Spiny! We just saw the news!"

"Good. Where are you?"

"We're going to visit my aunt at her house. She insisted on going home. She's still sick but she's very happy."

I took a deep breath. What I said next would in a way, determine whether she lived or died. "Okay, I want you to listen to me and listen carefully. I'm only going to say it once." I tried to sound as serious possible.

"What is it, Spiny? What's wrong?" She sounded scared.

"Just listen to me! The minute you get to her house, pack up all her things and bring her back home."

"What?!"

"Just do it, will you?! Get her things together and bring her back to the Palace. Get inside, and make sure nobody sees you. And don't tell anyone where you're going, what you're going to do, or where you're going."

"Okay, I'll tell my dad."

"Good. I'll see you this evening. I'm going to be very busy today. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and looked at Larry. "I know it's going to be okay. I just know it is."

He nodded. "I'm sure it will." At that moment, the fax machine beeped like crazy. Larry ran over to it. He grabbed the paper as it was coming out. When he read through it, he muttered, "Oh, my gosh!"

I stood up and walked over to him. "What? What happened?"

"Something really bad."

"What?"

He sighed. "Incident report. One of our trucks was delivering the medicine. They were going through one of the towns and three cars appeared out of nowhere and started shooting at the driver."

"Oh, no!"

"The truck swerved suddenly and a few bottles of the medicine came loose and crashed on the road. The car drivers also threw grenades at the truck. Fortunately they missed the truck and instead they blasted the asphalt on the road. A unit of guards appeared and fired back at the cars. They went up in flames. Fifteen casualties and as of the moment, no arrests have been made."

I collapsed in my chair and put my hand to my face. "Oh, no."

"They're going to be escorted by army vehicles now. All of the trucks. And just to keep things safe, the homes of the people who are sick will also be guarded. A few people who are receiving the medicine have gotten threatening phone calls and even aggressive comments on Facebook and Twitter accounts."

As if on cue, a message beeped on my computer screen. I'd gotten a new message in my email inbox. I opened it. I didn't recognize the address. It had very ugly emoticons. An angry face, a devil face, a gun, a skull, and even a tombstone. It read, "If you give the stuff to your loved ones instead of us, you won't ever kiss your girl or your family ever. So say goodbye now!"

I stared at Larry. "Now what?!"

"I don't know. But I'm ordering a helicopter to escort every truck too. I'm not taking chances. And I'm telling the guards at the Palace Gates to stay on Alert Level 5. The highest one. And also, we're going to perform autopsies on the bodies of the 15 who tried to steal the medicine. Then we'll know if they belong to any criminal organization."

"I have a suggestion."

"What is it?"

"I want it to be announced that we will use lethal force when delivering it to those who need it. And if anyone tries to sabotage or steal it, we will use authorized lethal force and we won't need to make a formal arrest."

"Sounds good." He'd barely finished when the phone rang. "Hello? Yes, what is it. What?! Where?! Okay, I'll tell him."

I was getting really scared now. Everything and anything was happening. It was all happening so fast. Too fast. The pressure was mounting heavily. "What's happening?" I said.

"Three more cars that were involved in the shooting escaped. They're being chased into a field of crop. They've got two police cars and three army trucks on their tail." The phone rang again. "What? Huh?"

"What is it?"

Larry turned to me. "There was an explosion. One of the cars blew itself up trying to blow up the police car. But it didn't work. The two men in the car died. Two of the others have turned themselves in and the four others were caught and arrested. They're being taken to be interrogated."

A feeling of great relief came over. "Well, that's good to hear. And if they don't want to talk, just give them the Third Degree."

"Spiny, you do know that torture is illegal."

"I wasn't referring to torture. I meant something more like scaring them. You know what I mean?"

"Oh, oh! Yeah, I know."

We spent the next few hours giving order to the police and military forces. We also gave specific orders to the ones delivering the medicine to not stop for any reason in the world. Then, at around 4:57 pm, Larry stood up. "Okay, Spiny. We now know the identities of the ones who made the attack."

"Let me guess. It was people from the pharmacy companies?"

"Yes. They'd sent agents to try and destroy the medicine."

"Hmm. What do you think we should do?"

"I already thought of that. As of now and for the foreseeable future, the government will take absolute control of all the medical and pharmacy companies. They are now government property."

"That's a good suggestion. That way we can get the message out that no one will get away with something like that."

"And we've been getting requests from several people that we place the medicine on the market."

"On the market?!"

"No, not on the black market! I mean, put it up for sale, you know? Most of them are doctors or owners of hospitals."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I said. "If the medicine gets into the hands of pharmacies, they're going to charge tens of thousands of dollars."

"Yeah, I know. That's why we decided to take control of the medical and pharmacy companies. So now the government is the only one who can distru…uh, I mean, distubi…uh, I mean, distribute the stuff."

I stared at him. "What's the matter with you? You're so nervous that you can't even twist your tongue. You haven't played a practical joke on me all day. It's not like you."

He sighed. "I have good reasons to be nervous."

"Yeah, I know."

"And you know, I've also been told that many of our guards have been offered bribes in order to have access to the medicine."

I didn't like the sound of that. "Um, but, none of them have succumbed to the bribes, right?"

"No, of course not. All of them report all bribes to us. And in order to protect them and their families, we never reveal their personal information. And since they all wear the same armor and all, it's hard to identify them."

"Those are good measures," I said, agreeing.

Larry's desk phone rang again. "Yes? When? Do you which ones? Yes, I'll tell him now. Take care." He hung up and looked at me, very worried.

"What is it?"

"The US, Germany, the UK, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, and France have all begun massive operations to copy us and make the cure."


	11. Chapter 11

I suddenly got very dizzy and felt close to fainting. I collapsed on the sofa we have in the room.

"Do you think they know how to make it?" I said, not feeling so well.

"Well, they know which plants we used from Brazil and the Congo to make it. And I don't know how, but they also find out the kind of bacteria we used. And they know how to GMO. What they don't know is how to GMO the bacteria."

I felt a little relived. I drank some water. "How long do you think we have before they start producing the cure too?"

"Anywhere from a year and a half to three years."

"And what should we do when it happens?"

He got up and started pacing back and forth. "Well, we both know that when they do acquire it, they're going to sell it at ridiculous prices. But at least by then we'll have a lot more and people won't need to go poor to get better."

It was 5:48 pm now. My eyes came upon a photo with me and my family. Then, a troubling question came to my mind. "Larry?"

"Yeah?"

"I know that this is an unpleasant question, but, doesn't this all raises my chances of being assassinated?"

"Yes. It does. Quite significantly."

"Would you say by about 30%?"

He shook his head. "Nah! I'd say 62%. And probably 30% for the rest of the family. And maybe 78% for Lilia."

"Lilia?! Why would anyone want to kill her?"

"Well, for one thing, everyone knows she's your girlfriend. And people are bound to find out that her aunt is getting the cure. So people will take it as favoritism. That's unavoidable. You know, as tight as we are, we're not a safe box. We can't keep everything from the public."

"That's true. So what do you suggest?"

"Well…you told Lilia and her family to take her aunt to the Palace, right?"

I nodded.

"In that case, once we get home, you and Lilia and her family and your family stay inside until I tell you to. Keep all the doors and windows shut and locked. Draw all the binds and close all the curtains. And try to stay away from all the windows on the front side. And don't have any contact with the outside world. Don't write letters, talk on the phone, send text messages, or anything like that."

I nodded. "I might also suggest adding three or four more units of guards."

"Yes, that too. And whatever you do, don't go anywhere near a pharmacy. There are liable to be snipers everywhere."

I looked at the clock. It was six now. "I guess we should head home."

Larry nodded. "Yeah. I have a bottle of the stuff in my briefcase." He patted his closed briefcase.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now let's try to get home without getting killed. Literally."

We grabbed our stuff and locked the office with the lock, the combination, and the fingerprint lock. Then we ran like crazy up to the lobby. We stopped short in our tracks when we saw what we saw.

A huge mob of people were yelling and protesting. When they saw me, they suddenly got more violent and started breaking the glass. They were being held back by riot police and soldiers.

Larry and I ran to the garage. It was empty, thank goodness. We got into TIV and started the engine. I ran up to the roof of the parking garage instead of to the exit. I didn't want to take chances. I was flying home.

We landed in the front yard, right in front of the main doors. There were also hordes of people piled up against the Palace Gates. There were hundreds of guards holding them back and standing by ready.

Larry and I ran inside and locked the door behind us.

We were both panting and breathing heavily. Kathy came down the stairs. She ran to me and hugged me very tight. "Oh, Spiny! I'm so glad you're okay!"

I hugged her back. "Shh. Shh. It's okay, sis. I'm okay. We're going to be fine. I promise."

I could hear her whimpering. "I'm scared."

"I know, I know. I'm terrified. But we'll be okay." Behind her, Lilia came down. We ran to each other and kissed. Then she hugged me too. "I'm so happy you're here!"

I laughed, trying to make her feel better. "So am I." I pulled away from her, my hands still around her. "Where's your aunt?"

"We put her in the guest room."

I nodded. I turned to Larry. "He brought some of the medicine. It should be enough for her. Come on." The four of us walked up to the third floor. I was SO exhausted. When I was halfway to the guest room, I almost collapsed.

Larry and Lilia grabbed me by the arms and helped me up. "You've been under a lot of pressure. You need to rest," said Larry. "I'll go give her the medicine, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay." I looked at Kathy. "Have you guys had dinner?"

She nodded. "We had a little bit. I guess we weren't too hungry because we've been worried. But we had enough."

I held on to my room's doorknob. "If it's not too much trouble, could I have dinner in bed?"

She smiled. "No bother at all."

I nodded and said, "Thanks, sis." I kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

"I do too, big brother."

I smiled at her. Then I kissed Lilia. "I love you, too, you know."

She smiled. "Thanks, I love you too."

I opened the door to my room, and closed it behind me. Phew! Before I did anything else, I shut the window and locked it. Then I drew the blinds and closed the curtains. I turned on the lights and put away my briefcase. I was starting to change when someone knocked on the door.

"It's open!"

The door opened and there was Mr. Woods, his wife, Lilia's sister Rebecca, and Robert and Greeny. I smiled at them. "Hey!" Robert and Greeny ran to me. I hugged both of them. It was such a great family moment. I could feel the tears coming out. I felt so safe and secure.

"Listen, why don't you guys go see if the girls or Larry need help in anything, all right?"

"All right," said Robert. "Come on, Greeny."

"Spiny?" said Greeny.

"Yeah?"

"Did you bring me anything?"

We all laughed. I reached into my pockets and handed him a pen from my office. "Here you go!"

He smiled. "Yay!" He and Robert ran out the room.

I looked at the Woods'. "I love it when he says 'yay.' Well, what can I do for you?"

Mr. Woods said, "We just want to thank you, Spiny. For your hospitality and personal interest in our family. We understand that you're risking your own life."

Then his wife said, "But we are very grateful and sincerely appreciate it. We'll never be able to repay you."

I smiled. "Well, you know what they say: Love your neighbor and a true friend is there in time of need."

Then, Rebecca said, "We'll do anything to help you. And we…well, we just can't express how we feel." She leaned closer and kissed my cheek.

"Well," I said. "You are all like my family. How could I abandon my family?"

"Well, we just want to let you know how we feel."

"We'll let you change and rest now," said Mr. Woods. "Will you be going straight to bed?"

"I think so. So I guess I should say goodnight."

"Goodnight," they all said. They closed the door after leaving. I started changing out of my suit and into my pajamas and my slippers. After I hung up my coat and pants and put away my dress shoes, someone knocked the door. "Come in!"

It was Larry. "I've already given her a dose of the medicine. I'm not sure how long it will take to start making effect. The next 24 to 48 hours will tell whether she'll make it."

I sighed. "Let's just keep hoping and praying."

He nodded. He had never looked so serious, worried, and solemn in all my life. It was then that I realized that this was a part of Larry that I had never seen before. It was his softer, more empathetic and compassionate side. But it made me glad to have him for my best friend.

"Just to be safe, I'm going to stay with her all night," Larry said. "Lilia's mom and dad are going to sleep in the Celebrity Guest Room. And Rebecca's bunked up in the Honorary Guest Room." That's the room we use for when we invite some dignitary from other countries. Like a King, Queen, Prime Minister, a President, an ambassador, or something like that.

I nodded. "All right. Um, how about Lilia?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Well, uh, she didn't want to sleep in any of those. She didn't exactly say."

"Oh. Well, I'll ask her later."

He nodded. "Okay. I'm going to go see how her aunt is. Goodnight, Spiny."

I smiled at him. "Goodnight…friend."

He smiled and shut the door and left. Maybe it was my imagination, but I may have caught a tear coming from his eye.

I got into bed and started reading. A while later Kathy came with my dinner on a silver tray. Then she left and said goodnight. They'd cooked strips of beef in spices and green bell pepper and onion with rice and vegetables. I was halfway through the veggies when Lilia walked in.

She was carrying…a duffel bag, a towel, and a book. "I asked my parents if it was okay."

My heart started pounding like crazy. "Um…what is okay?"

"That I sleep in Larry's bed."

Okay, now my heart started throbbing and pounding so hard, I knew for a fact that everyone in the Palace could hear it. It was ready to jump out of my chest. I gulped the rice. She said, "That is, if it's okay with you?"

"Um…yeah. It's okay with me. But I think we shouldn't tell anyone. You know how people twist stories."

She nodded. "I know. I'm just going to in your bathroom to change, okay?"

I nodded. She placed the duffel bag on Larry's bed, which was by the way, about five or six feet away from mine. She got out her toothbrush, dental floss, face soap, and her pajamas and walked into the bathroom.

And to think that this all happened because Larry made a cure for cancer.


	12. Chapter 12

Lilia came out in her pajamas and sat on Larry's bed. I couldn't help stare at her. The moment was so…cherished. I mean, we were on different beds six feet apart, but we were still in one room behind a closed door.

I'm only flesh and blood so it's natural that at that moment my natural urges started flowing in. But the fact that her parents trusted me so much that they let her sleep in my room, even if it was on a different bed and behind a closed door really motivated me to act like a gentleman.

Lilia pushed her bag under the bed and got out a book and her hairbrush. She looked at me and smiled. "Could you brush my hair?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah! Sure." I threw my covers off and went to sit next to her. She handed me the brush and I started brushing her hair. We didn't say anything. Like I said, I guess it was the moment.

After I was done, I handed her the brush. "You going to read?"

"A little. Just to get sleepy. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not." I kissed her lips ever so softly and caringly. Then I hugged her. "Thanks for supporting me."

She caressed my hair. "I always have and I always will. And I love you too." She kissed me again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I got up and walked back to my bed. I got under the covers and rested my head on the pillow. I fell asleep probably about ten minutes later. I was so exhausted that I was out cold fast. I slept so soundly that I didn't dream a single thing.

But it was one of the most restful nights I'd ever had. In a long time. When I woke up the next morning, it was nine. Lilia was still asleep too. Her silky brown hair covered her like a brown garment.

I didn't want to wake her, so I stayed in bed. And I fell asleep again. I woke up about an hour later. Lilia was gone. I'd barely woken up when Larry walked in. "Hey."

"Hey," I answered.

"I got news."

"Three of leaders of the medical company that was behind the attack have all been arrested. They're being charged for assault, intended sabotage and possibly intended murder."

"Really? Wow! What company was it?"

"Um…you're not going to like this, but uh, it's your family doctor."

The air in my lungs was sucked out. "You…you mean "You…you mean my doctor? The one who was there when I was born?!"

He nodded. "Yep, he was one of the three. They were planning to kill you and the family."

I sat on the bed, too stunned to say much. "I…I can't believe it. I mean, my own doctor!"

"I know. I took it that same way. Now, we've assigned three hospitals to store the medicine. We're not going to say in which ones they are, obviously. We did have an incident while bringing in some boxes into the General Hospital here in Sauropolis."

"What happened?"

"Well, while the workers were taking them into the hospital, somebody in a mask shot some bullets at the box and cracked three bottles. Thankfully, we didn't lose too much of the medicine."

I got up from bed and got myself dressed in record time. "You know, this is crazy, but I'm seriously considering putting a dusk-to-dawn curfew and work nights."

"That's…that's extreme."

"What other choice do we have?"

He didn't say anything. He shrugged. "Well…at least wait a few days for things to calm down. Wait for people to calm down. Once they see that it's working, then they might just calm down."

I exhaled. "All right. Just a few more days. Anyways, how's Lilia's aunt?"

"I've got good news on that! She's responding very well. The cancer in her body is decreasing rapidly. I'm going to give her another dose right now. Her stomach is kind of sensitive right now, so she can only eat soups and light liquids. But she's all right."

I sighed with relief. "Oh, that's good to hear!"

"Sure is!"

I suddenly felt a whole lot better. I felt a lot more alive and happy. I went down to get my breakfast. The next few days proved what Larry had said. Little by little, people became more receptive. They were more willing to accept the arrangements. And Lilia's aunt got better. Much better. By the end of the week, she was so well that she challenged us to a game of soccer.

She clobbered us! But it was a great feeling to see her running like a teenager. By Friday, she was well enough to go home. When we stepped out the front door, there were tons of people and reporters in front of the Palace Gates. They all erupted into cheers and applauses. I must've done about twenty interviews that day.

Larry said that we would have enough medicine for 10,000 people by the end of the year.

It was one of those moments where I felt like I was making a real difference in other people's lives. I had never been so happy in my life! Now as I look back on those few days that changed the whole world right to its foundation, I sigh.

I learned to have compassion and empathy towards those who are suffering and above all, to have faith in my best friends.

And I couldn't have learned it in a better way.


End file.
